


Hallway Blues

by orphan_account



Category: Mindless Self Indulgence, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Bob is slightly less of a dick, Bullying, F slur, Gerard is cute, High School AU, Homophobia, I do not condone the whole bullying stuff btw, Im just a Fic writer who rambles in the tags, M/M, Peer Pressure, Ray doesn't mean to be a dick, That Dylan kid pops up every now and then, he is forgiven, he too is a dick, pete is a dick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-16 22:52:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7287886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some bad people aren't really bad people at all.<br/>Just misunderstood.<br/>And Gerard is determined to understand a certain misunderstood person named Ray Toro, no matter the costs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hallway Blues

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings for this chapter: Bullying, homophobia, a slightly depressive mood, and the f slur.
> 
> It'll get better.   
> Enjoy~!

"Yeah, and don't come back!"

Pete yelled after a young boy who they just beat up and chased off. The entire group laughed, with the exception of Ray. Ray was different than his other three friends. They yelled at people, pushed them around, and he thought it was stupid. He was just too much of a coward to mention anything about it to them.

"Did you see how he cried?" Bob snickered. 

"What a wimp!" Dylan sneered.

"I'd expect he would be, since he's some gay boy." Pete rolled his eyes, "Wasn't that fun, Raymond?"

Ray had gotten great at faking being a bully in front of them. He laughed, "Yeah, loads! Hope he comes back tomorrow, I've got a plan."

"Really?"

"Do tell!" Pete got excited. He was the "leader" and Ray was his right hand man. Torment of nerds and the few openly gay kids was what he did best.

Ray made things like this up on the spot when he got stuck in situations like this, "Well, you see that trash can over there? What if he were to 'accidentally' fall in and get his head stuck?"

The boys started howling with laughter, "Yeah! He'll never live it down!"

"Precisely!" Ray giggled, "I've gotta go back to my house. See ya!" As soon as he was out of their line of sight, he bolted to find the boy and warn him not to get too close to a trash can in front of them.

He found the boy crying at the nearby park, sitting next to a boy he presumed his best friend, Brendon. "Hey, uh, kid?" His tone was as gentle as he could make it, but Brendon wasn't convinced.

"Hey! No, stay away! You're just a low life, dirty bully! And that's all you'll ever be! GO AWAY!"

Intimidated, he ran home, feeling like an awful person. In all honesty, he wasn't. He just got caught by the wrong crowd at the wrong time. He needed a way to get out of this "friendship" before he hurts more people.  
~~

The next day in Literacy, the boy was reassigned the seat next to him. He didn't want to have anything to do with him. Ray couldn't really blame him. 

"Hey,

I just wanted to say you and I are a lot more alike than you think. I never wanted to be one of those "cool" kids, they hurt people. But if I leave, they'll be mad at me and take their frustration out on some people I care about. See my dilemma? I try not to be such a bad person : (

~R.T"

He must've read the note he wrote about seven times before handing it to the boy while the teacher was distracted. The boy read it over a couple times, before formulating a response.

"I don't think you're a bad person. You've never laid a hand on anyone or really seemed to want to laugh at anyone. I saw through your dumb facade the minute I saw you hanging with the likes of them. I'm Gerard, by the way."

He smiled when he got the note, writing back,

"I'm Ray. Meet me at the right corner table at lunch, we'll talk more."

At lunch time, people were bustling about, tripping people, laughing, the works. They sat down together and started to talk.

"So, you're not such a bad guy after all, are you?"

"No, at least, I try not to be..." Ray mumbled.

Gerard squinted, "What do you mean?"

"They make me do things..." He looked down at his sandwich, "One time, they made me hold down that Urine boy while the beat him up."

"Ouch. I remember that. He cried for, like, days." Gerard cringed.

"Yeah... And, you know, they target the kids that aren't straight, but they don't really know I'm gay..." Gerard looked up at that, Ray still looking down, "I've watched them hurt people so much, just by using words, and I'm so sick of it! It feels like---"

"Raymond." A cold hand was now on his shoulder. Pete. Ray shivered and looked up. "I think it's time you leave this disgusting thing."

"Okay... Bye, Gerard." He let himself be dragged off to the halls, entire body becoming numb. 

Pete slammed him hard up against a locker, "What the fuck was that about, huh?!" He applied pressure to Ray's chest, making it hard to breathe, "You're lucky I don't give you a swirlie right now with your glasses still on!" 

"P-Pete, I--"

"Fuck off, I wasn't finished." He snarled, "I don't want you hanging with the likes of him, got it? You'll---"

"P-PETE I'M GAY!" He cried out. Pete threw him down with force. 

"How long have you known...?" He asked coldly, but mostly in horror.

Ray coughed heavily, "Since... 7th grade..." 

Pete kicked him in the stomach and stalked off, "Your social life is down the drain. Wait until everyone in school finds out."

He knew that meant he was going to get a heavy dose of what his "friends" have put everyone else through. It was alright. He thought he deserved it, you know, for being a giant jerk wad.

Gerard was standing outside the cafeteria, watching the whole thing in silence. In a strange way, he felt proud of Ray for admitting something like that, aware of the consequences he'd have to face for it. As long as he could remain friends with Gerard. How heartwarming.  
~~

"Fag." Shoved into a wall of lockers. Used to it.

"Pretty boy." Pushed from behind only to land face down on the hallway floor. Used to it.

Stepped away from at lunch time. "Sicko!" Used to it.

Beat up a lot more. Predictable.

All of these tortures became something Ray was a lot more used to. In fact, more used to than Gerard ever was. It hurt, but it was something he thought he deserved. In fact, he beat himself up a lot more than the other kids did to him.

Gerard became invisible, and he sort of liked it, but on the other hand, at what cost? Someone else was getting double the torment he would get, coming to school with bruises up and down his arms and legs. He smiled a lot less, his eyes were lost and far more dim. They didn't have the same cheer and sparkle that they used to. It was time to do something about it.

While Ray was clearing out the slurs and insults from his locker, he found a pretty pink note addressed from Gerard.

"Hey you! : )  
Meet me at the grave yard by the grocery store. I've got something cool to show you.  
Don't be sad,  
Gee! <3"

He blinked at the note, confused. Why did Gerard even care about his feelings? His feelings didn't matter. He didn't matter. Nonetheless, his mom wouldn't get too mad if he stayed out a little late, as long as he was back before sunset, so he decided to go.

When he got there, Gerard and a few friends were there. "Ray! You made it!"  
Gerard beamed, running to hug him. 

"Uh, yeah, I suppose I did..." He mumbled, mood not really changing. He looked up and felt guilt weigh down on him. It was all of his past victims. Jimmy, his boyfriend, Steve, Hayley, Mikey, his boyfriend, Frank, and Lindsay.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's HE doing here?!" Hayley glared at him. Everyone started protesting, before Gerard yelled for them to listen.

"He's not all that bad. Hasn't been, the others forced him to do all that stuff! He's actually getting beat up a lot worse than I have, since he went from popular, to the lowest of the low, after one simple confession."

"And that would be?" Mikey looked at him expectantly.

"I'm gay..." He muttered, ashamed of himself.

"Oh. Yeah, that'll do it," Lindsay's face cleared from anger to understanding. "Well, welcome to the Six Feet Under Club. We organized it to pick each other up after being thrown down. Repeatedly."

"Into several walls," Jimmy piped up.

"In a trash compactor," Frank sounded.

"Spit out into a woodchipper," Steve laughed.

"And repeat," Lindsay finished, "Make yourself at home, we never get kicked out because Hayley's mom works here. On Wednesdays we have crackers. If you can't make it after school, text one of us. Otherwise, we're coming after you to make sure nothing bad is happening to you."

"Clear?" Steve asked.

"Clear," Ray replied hesitantly, "I just don't see why you guys care about the likes of me..."

"Because, you're a cool person. Cool people shouldn't have to be tormented at school alone."

He smiled. Maybe he found some friends he could keep for a change.


End file.
